Town Square

Palo Alto Oaks take 16-0 mark into postseason tourney

The Palo Alto Oaks' semipro baseball squad completed its regular summer season Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Fontanetti's at Baylands Athletic Center, 6-0 and 12-0, to cap their regular season at 16-0.

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Posted by John
a resident of Barron Park
on Jul 22, 2013 at 12:13 pm

We need a human interest story on the Palo Alto Oaks. I know they have been playing forever, but I really know nothing about the team. Who supports it financially. Who keeps it going after all these years? How do they recruit players? Are the players people who still have hopes of a pro career, former pro players, just people who enjoy playing baseball?

Posted by Andrew
a resident of another community
on Jul 23, 2013 at 1:48 pm

The Oaks are truly amazing and have been run, funded and held together by the great Steve Espinosa. Steve played for the Oaks when he was younger under the late great Tony Makjevic! Tony Mak needs to be celebrated by the community for all his years dedicated to this great institution. I will contact Steve to see if he can add a human interest story to this link. Steve does it all for the love of the game, kids and to honor the memory of Tony Mak!!!

Posted by Steve Espinoza
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Jul 23, 2013 at 2:18 pm

Thank you all for the kind words. Let me try to answer some of your questions. First, Andrew makes mention of Tony Makjavich. It is important to know that Tony managed the team for nearly 50 years. Back when I played, we played in the San Francisco Winter League where all the local pros would play to stay in shape. We played against such stars as Willie McGee, Von Hayes, Ricky Henderson, Mike Norris and on and on. We also played during the summer starting out at El Camino park and moving to Baylands the year it opened.

When Tony passed away in 2003, it meant someone would have to take over the team. I simply was not willing to let Tony's legacy, the Oaks, die with his passing...so I took it over. I have enjoyed the 10 years of running the team. We have gone where no other Oaks team has, the World Series the last three years. It has been exciting and rewarding.

However, we have decided to boycott the World Series this year as it has moved from Houston, two years ago, to Florida last year, and now New York. The cost to take the team there has exceeded our financial means. It would be great to find a corporate sponsor who would care enough about the team to assist with finances, but I have not thought of the appropriate way to find one.

Lastly, we are funded almost entirely by a golf tournament which allows me to first and foremost, honor Tony for all he did for the Oaks. Secondly, it does help raise the funds to run the team during the regular season. The 10th Tony Makjavich Memorial will be held October 5th, at Shoreline Golf Links. Information about the team and a downloadable entry form for the tournament is available as well. The team website is www.paoaks.com.